Wall mounted folding table



July 15, 1958 N. H. FRANKS WALL MOUNTED FOLDING TABLE Filed April 1'7, 1957 la ATTORNEYS.

ii I! United States Patent WALL MOUNTED FOLDING TABLE Norvin H. Franks, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Sturdi-Bilt Steel Products Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois This invention relates to wall mounted tables and more particularly to a table to be hingedly mounted on a wall and to a hinge bracket therefor.

There are many environments in which it is desirable to have a table top hingedly connected to a wall to be folded to a closed position adjacent and parallel to the wall or to an open position projecting horizontally from the wall. To be satisfactory, such a table must be-easy to fold from oneposition to the other, sturdy and rigid when in open position and secure against accidental movement from open to closedposition. It is aprimary object of the present invention to provide a wall'mounted table which satisfies these several requirements.

Another object is to provide a wall mounted table in which the table topis supported on brackets adjacent opposite ends thereof and each of the brackets .includes pivotally and telescopically connected links and latch means engaged by longitudinal collapsing movement of the links to hold the links against pivoting.

With this construction, bothbrackets must be raised and folded simultaneously to release the latches so that accidental release of the table is extremely unlikely and the latches can be engaged simply by raising the table top toopenposition.

Another object is to provide -a bracket for a Wall mounted table which is formed to hold into an extremely compact structure and-which provides a rigidsupport for the table top when his open.

According to a feature of'the'invention, the bracket is formed ofchannel section mounting and supporting strips and channel section links all of which nestwhen folded to closed'position 'to-occupy a minimumamount of space.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a foldable table embodying the invention in open position.

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the table in closed position;

Figure 3 is an end view in open position;

Figure 4 is an end view in closed position;

Figures 5 and 6 are partial views of the bracket links illustrating the latching operation; and

Figure 7 is a section on the line 7--7 of Figure 4.

The folding table of the present invention is adapted to be pivotally secured to a vertical wall 10 which may be the wall of a room and may be formed of wood, masonry, or plaster construction. The table includes a top 11 which may be made of any desired size and which is adapted to be folded from an open position, as shown in Figure 1, in which it projects outward at right angles from the wall 10 to closed position, as shown in Figure 2, in which it lies closely adjacent and parallel to the wall 10. When open, the top 11 may serve as a rigid wall mounted table for work shop, decorative or other purposes, and when it is closed lies closely adjacent to the ice wall where it occupies a minimum amount of ,spaceand is out of the way.

The table is supported at its opposite ends on folding brackets indicated generally at .12 which are SECUIdIO the wall and to the table top. As best seen in Figures 3 and 4, the brackets comprise a mounting strip 13.015 channel section which is rigidly secured to the wall by screws, or similar suitable fastenings. The -web-of the channel lies flat against the wall with the flangesprojecting outward therefrom, as seen in Figure 7, and .at a point intermediatethelr ends the flanges may bepressed outward, as shown at 14, to provide space for pivot, pins, as described hereinafter.

The upper ends of the mounting strips 13 arepivotally connected 'to channel section supporting strips 15 which lie flat againsttheunderside of'the table top ll and are permanently secured thereto'byscrews orsimilar fastenings. "As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the web portion of the supporting strips 15 is bent over at an angle at.16 and is pivoted to theupper end of themount ing strip by avpivot pin 17. With this construction the bent-overportion 16 of the supporting strip willliesfiat against the wall when the table is OPI'l,-3.S shown :in Figure 3, and will space the supporting strip outward slightly from the mounting strip when-the: table is closed, as shown in Figure 4. The supporting strips 15-.are slightly'wider than the mounting strips .13 to nest over them when the table "is closed, as'shown inFigures 4 and 7,'a'nd are formed in their flanges with outwardly extending projections 1'3to register with and fit overthe projections 14 onthe mounting strips. v V

Each bracket is'completed'by a'pair of channel section links'19 and'21 pivoted respectively'to"thellower end of the mounting strip 13 and the outer'end-of'the supporting strip 15. The low'er-link 19 may fit relatively closely within the mounting. strips 13, as shown in Figure 7,

and may be pivoted thereto by a pin 22extendingthrough the flanges of the strips. The strip.19 is so positioned that whenthetable -is folded, its: channel will .open outwardly. i

The strip 21 is pivoted at its upperend on apivot pin 23 carried by the free end of the supportingstrip 15 and is positioned so that its channel will openii'n the same directionasthe supporting strip15 when 'thetable is closed. The link 21 is slightly-narrowerthanthe'link 19 to nest intoit whenthetable isclosed, as shownin Figure 7.

The links 19 and 21 are con'nectedtogether for pivotal and for limited longitudinal movement. For this purpose, the link 21 carries a cross pin 24 at its free end which extends through elongated slots 25 formed in the flanges of the link 19 spaced from its free end. With this type of connection, the links 19 and 21 can pivot relative to each other between the open and closed positions of the table and can slide lengthwise relative to each other through a limited amount of movement. The slots 25 are of such length and are so positioned that when the pin 24 seats against the lower ends of the slots, as shown in Figure 3, the table top will be in a horizontal position at right angles to the wall 10.

To hold the links against relative pivotal movement, the upper link 21 carries a latch member 26 which may be in the form of a flat strip welded to the outside of the web of the link and spaced above the surface of the link at its lower end. The latch member 26 is so positioned that when the pin 24 is in the lower end of the slots 25, the upper end of the link 19 will slip beneath the latch member 26 and will hold the links securely against relative pivotal movement.

To raise the table top from its closed to its open position, it is necessary only to grasp the table top and elevate it about the pivot pins 17 to a position slightly higher than horizontal. During this movement, the links 19 and 21 will unfold and will fall by gravity to the positron shown in Figure 5. It will be noted that in this positron the links are in alignment and the pin 24 engages the'upper ends of the slots 25 with the latch member 26 spaced above the upper end of the link 19. When the table top is lowered, the pin 24 will move to the lower ends of the slots 25 and the latch member 26 will engage the upper end of the link 19 to secure the links rigidly in alignment against any possible accidental folding or displacement.

With the table open, it will be seen that it will not readily be released to fold to closed position. If the table top should be raised accidentally at this time, the

links will 'move back to the position shown in Figure 5 and when the table top is again lowered they will return automatically to their latched position, as shown in Figure 3. To fold the table from open to closed position, it is necessary not only to raise the table top slightly above horizontal, but also simultaneously to bend the links in- 'Ward and upward so that when the table top again moves down, the latch will not automatically re-engage. When 2 two brackets, as shown, are employed they must be released simultaneously in order to fold the table to its closed position and if more than two brackets were used,

it would still be necessary to release all of the latches simultaneously to fold the table to its closed position.

. and inward with the free end of the supporting strip 15. As the movement continues, the link 19 will nest within the mounting strip 13, the link 21 will nest within the I link 19 and'the supporting strip 15 will nest over the Y mounting strip 13. The pivot pin 24, which may project beyond the flanges of the link 19, for safety is received in the recesses 14 and 18 and the link 21 may be notched, as shown at 27, to fit over the pivot pin 22. Thus the entire bracket linkage will collapse into a very small, compact structure allowing the table top 19 to lie closely adjacent to the wall where it is out of the Way.

While one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described herein, it will be understood that it is illustrative only and not to be taken as a definition of the scope of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A wall mounted table comprising a table top and a pair of folding brackets secured to the table top adjacent to the opposite ends thereof and adapted to be secured to a wall to support the top for folding between a closed position adjacent and parallel to the Wall to an open position projecting horizontally from the wall, each of the brackets including a vertical channel section mounting strip to be secured to a wall with the channel opening outward, a channel section supporting strip secured to the top with its channel opening downward and of a different width than the mounting strip to interfit with the mounting strip one within the other and hinged to the upper end of the mounting strip, a pair of channel section links hinged respectively to the lower end of the mounting strip and the outer end of the supporting strip, a pivotal and sliding connection between the end of one link and a point spaced from the end of the other link, and a latch member on said one link engageable with the end of the other link when the links are aligned and moved together to hold the links against relative pivotal movement, the link-s being narrower than the strips and being of different widths and fitting one within the other to be enclosed by the strips when the table is in its closed position.

2. In a wall mounted table, a folding bracket comprising channel section mounting and supporting strips hinged together at one end with the channels facing and of difierent widths to fit together one within the other, a pair of channel section links hinged to the free ends of the strips respectively to nest into the strips and of different widths to fit together one within the other and to be enclosed by the strips, 21 pin at the free end of one of the links fitting in a slot spaced from the free end of the other link to connect the links for relative pivotal and limited lengthwise movement, and a latch member on said one of the links spaced from its free end to engage the free end of the other link when the links are aligned and moved toward each other to latch the links against relative pivotal movement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 624,115 Steel May 2, 1899 1,553,047 Kroschel Sept. 8, 1925 1,580,289 Cummings Apr. 13, 1926 1,677,620 Cummings July 17, 1928 1,724,457 Cummings Aug. 13, 1929 2,199,981 Bell May 7, 1940 2,239,225 Gordon Apr. 22, 1941 2,577,399 Bell Dec. 4, 1951 

